This invention relates generally to gelatin capsule medications and more particularly to method of treating gelatin capsules so that the capsule may be used for insertion through body orifices so as to apply medicinal material to areas to be treated.
At the present time, there is no convenient and sanitary method for applying certain medicaments to human and animal bodies. A typical example of such a medicament are suppositories. Suppositories liquefy in response to body temperature and as a result oftentimes become softened prior to insertion through the rectal orifice. In addition, the suppository is objectionable to some people because there is no sanitary way to apply the suppositories. Further, when the receiver of the suppository is a small squirming child, the problems are only compounded. The speed with which suppositories perform their desired function is not great. A suppository in liquid form would be faster acting and more desirable, however, there is no present applicator for applying such liquid medicaments.
Other examples of medicaments which are inserted through body orifices are preparations for the treatment of hemorrhoids, certain preparations used for contraceptive purposes, drugs and the like used for the treatment of internal disorders of the rectum and vaginal areas, etc. Generally, a separate applicator is used in these instances. The medicament is applied to the applicator which is then inserted through the body orifice to the area to be treated. Often a lubricant must be applied to the outside of the applicator. A plunger or the like ejects the medicament from the applicator and the applicator is then removed and must be cleaned for sanitation purposes. At the end of the required treatment, the problem arises of how to dispose of the applicator. It is quite difficult to apply the exact amount of medicament required to the applicator. Hence, the person may be receiving too much or too little of the medicament.
The use of gelatin capsules has become quite popular in recent years. One advantage of gelatin capsules is that a predetermined or measured dose of medicament may be placed in the capsule. The medicament may be either a liquid or a gel-like substance. Such capsules are commercially available from R. P. Scherer Corp. and Parke Davis. To date, however, there has been no way to utilize the gelatin capsules for application of medicaments which must be inserted through body orifices. The gelatin capsules are generally too soft to overcome the resistance of the body orifice. If the capsule is made sufficiently hard so as to overcome the resistance of the body orifice, then the capsule is too hard to be able to squeeze the medicament out of the capsule.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method for treating gelatin capsules to make them usable for insertion through body orifices.
Another object of this invention is to provide a gelatin capsule having a sufficiently hardened portion to be inserted through a body orifice yet having a sufficiently softened portion which may be squeezed to eject the medicament therefrom.
A further object of this invention is to provide a gelatin capsule having means for puncturing the hardened portion of the capsule so that the medicament is exhausted through said punctures.